details.

Referring to the Virginia shootings, a commentator on NPR said yesterday that "the narrative has already been written, it's just the details that need to be filled in."

The phrase took my breath away--momentarily-- and I've been thinking about it ever since. Initially it was the scope of the tragedy in Virginia, and the thought that a narrative encapsulating those horrors could be written. But then my mind dissected the phrase (as it tends to do), and I thought about it more broadly. Have all narratives been written? Has mine? Perhaps we simply go forth daily in a search or a stumble for details. I'm not sure I believe that, but it made me think. Who writes a real-life narrative-the character or the storyteller? Or, perhaps neither?

nonpareil.

i was eating a dark chocolate nonpareil the other day, and realized- we know what these aren't, but we don't know what they are.

what's his face

"and I remember how I would always refer to her boyfriends
as what's-his-face, which was wrong of me and I'd like
to apologize to those guys right now, wherever they are:

No one deserves to be called what's-his-face."

David Berman, Classic Water In Snow (pp. 6-7) New York: Open City Books (1999).

Default.

A good friend sent me a posting yesterday by Paul Graham, an internet investor, about the pros and cons (mostly pros) of joining or starting a start-up company. It lists the main reasons people shy away from starting their own company- from feeling inexperienced, to not having enough money, to feeling gunshy about starting.

Graham's last point is what stuck with me- having a regular job is a default. It's the standard template. We all need money (at least some), and we like the security. But it doesn't take much creativity or risk to go to a regular job every day. Someone else figures out the rules and pays the bills.

Well, I better get going to my default. Getting late...

Ira, Hipster.

Like my good friend gt, This American Life is one of my favorites. And it just got more interesting. I was wary of its tv debut since the radio format is what makes TAL so good- but Ira and crew manage to keep TAL true. The first episode is available for free, and both stories are terrific.

The Paradox of Law

It's an age-old dilemma. The law applies to all, and everyone has the right to representation in front of the bodies of government that make, execute, and apply it. We learn this in grammar school. It became particularly apropos and sacred to me in law school. But what about the bad guys? Is it ok to differentiate between who is good and who is bad? Should some people have more representation than others?

In a meeting at work this morning, a friend's name came up in conversation. He's a lawyer at a relatively big firm (RBF, since that's about as big as they get in smallish state, to differentiate between an actual BF) who has an array of clients as diverse as local nonprofits and major corporations. Referring to his lobbying on behalf of major corps, boss said "how can he live with himself?"

Squinting, I said "because he's a lawyer." I meant it at face value. It's important. I believe that. A good lawyer has to be a relativist.

A House.

I am ready for a house. A house where there is room to cook, a door that thwaps in the summer, and a quiet place to read. I don't think I need a yard, but I might. And probably not a garage or a place for a boat.

the rest

gt reminded me earlier this morning of the when harry met sally line (to paraphrase): when you meet the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start right away.

What a great thought. Does the end begin with love?